Apparently one upcoming product release from Lenovo, an updated ThinkPad Wireless keyboard, was on display at CES 2013 but slipped through the cracks of actually being reported on by any of the thousands of journalists there. So much for modern media and information overload, it’s slim pickings for finding specs on the upcoming ThinkPad Wireless Bluetooth keyboard you see here:
This image comes courtesy of NotebookReview.com forum member ibmthink. The keyboard is also referenced on the CES 2013 website as having won an award for design. You can see that the updated ThinkPad wireless keyboard has the same six row chiclet design that the new ThinkPad laptops carry. The keyboard in fact reflects the look and feel of the new generation ThinkPads in every way, the point is to have a consistent keyboard experience whether you’re at a desktop or laptop doing work. The information on the sign above the keyboard shows the wireless technology used is Bluetooth and that it is spill resistant. What can’t be seen is whether there is a keyboard backlight option like you get on ThinkPad laptops. We’ll find out more when Lenovo gets around to issuing an official press release or publishing this to Lenovo.com. Until then, you can still buy the classic style ThinkPad wireless keyboard for $49.99, for those that don’t like change or the new keyboard layout.
Is that a Trackpoint stick, or a Touchpoint?
Either way, I’m totally buying one. One more reason I can’t skip Bluetooth on a new laptop anymore.
It is both and neither.
When I first saw this, I was totally jazzed, planning on buying two at least, but as I’ve become more familiar with it, I’m less infatuated. If I were a ThinkPad designer and I set out to build a wireless keyboard with trackpoint, that’s exactly how it would look. If I were a betting person, from the looks of it, I’d bet against a backlight for the keyboard. It appears to be bluetooth, not IR, which makes it more expensive, though offers a better connection, and I’d have to add a dongle to my HTPCs. That’s where I want to use, which is why I want the backlight. Probably from Lenovo’s perspective, Bluetooth makes sense, but without it, it’s not worth the extra cost to me.